That's Why He's Here
If you've read the blog with any regularity, you know I'm a James Taylor fan. Well, no his new album, Covers, is available for pre-order on Amazon
Picture This
I've been back from San Diego for almost two weeks now and I never posted those pictures I said I'd post. Things got busy upon my return, including some things I can't talk about yet. (Curses!) As soon as I can say something about these, I will.
Anyway, here are some photos from Comic-Con. With all these photos, you can click and embiggen.
There were some great costumes at Comic-Con. I loved this take on Plastic Man.
And there was a lot of Hollywood stuff around, including this, from "The Mummy 3."
I did some sketches at the show, as well as at the aforementioned Drink and Draw. The Moon Knight was a commission, the others were from the D&D.
That's all I've got for now. Hopefully more cool artwork from current projects soon!
While I Was Out
Also cool…this one was going for almost $60.00 on eBay. How weird is that?
Love and Capes #8 in Previews NOW!
Number eight this month…the trade next month…it's a flurry of Love and Capesishness.
Not Much Farther Now Papa Smurf
There's just one day left to go in my West Coast Swing. It'll have a breakfast at the Farmer's Market, two separate meetings, and dinner with some good friends of mine. It'll be a great way to end the trip.
Well, a safe trip home is a great way to end the trip, but that's just semantics.
If you haven't seen their book, buy it here.
Anyway, it was just awesome. One of the things I miss most about art school is the cameraderie of other artists. There's a level of communication I can't get with other non-artists, and understanding, a commonality if you will. I still talk to a couple of art school buddies, and that's pretty close, but there's a lot to be said for being in the same room, seeing the process and the result.
And the beer, of course.
Then today Bob and I went to visit a friend of mine on the Warner Brothers lot. I've done drive-ons before, and I'm still geeky enough to appreciate it. But today we got to actually drive on the backlot. So we drove in front of County General from ER and past Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. We had a lovely lunch with my friend, and then wandered the lot a bit. Exceedingly cool.
We had dinner with my friend Amy Wolfram, talented writer of Many Things, including the fantastic Teen Titans Year One. Not reading it, well, then I weep for you. Of course, you could just buy the book, too.
Things have been going really well on this trip, aside from getting my first real case of The Con Rot. There's something about shaking hands for four and a half days, breathing recirculated air, and getting by on five hours of sleep that overcomes one's immune system. Right now, my nose is running like Wally West. Still, with two daysish before I touch down in the Buckeye State, I have plenty of time to heal up, I hope.
LA la la
I should have some stories by now, shouldn’t I? Oh, wait, I do.
I’m here in LA, doing the networking and meeting thing post-San Diego. I’ve got one meeting set up for the trip, and a bunch of lunches and dinners. I’m also going to participate in my first Drink and Draw tonight, so Woo and Hoo!
Obviously, the big story is that I went to Amoeba Records and stayed under my limit… oh, wait, no. There was an earthquake.
My first in LA. I’ve noticed two in my time in Ohio. Bob Ingersoll and I were in our car, driving to visit a friend at Warner Brothers and stopped at a stoplight when the car started to bounce, like someone was rocking the bumper. Once I determined it wasn’t Bob’s driving, I looked and saw the streetlights were bouncing too. “Hey, Bob,” I said, “I think it’s an earthquake.”
It was. And the last I heard, it was a 5.4 or something.
It wasn’t bad, and for my first one, I wasn’t scared. I was sorry that I broke my word to my Aunt Bunny who said “Don’t have any earthquakes” before I left. Though how I had one, I haven’t figured out yet. Once I harness that power, I’ll use it for good. Or evil. I have a PhD in Horrible, after all.
The big thing it did was mess up the phone lines. Oddly, I could call out to Ohio (which I did to let some people know I was okay) but I couldn’t call California. So I wasn’t able to make that WB meeting, since a phone call was involved there. We went to a mall and everyone seemed to be lacking cell service. We saw a couple TV reports about the quake, too.
All things being equal, I think I liked the Earthquake ride at Universal Studios better.
Bob and I saw The Dark Knight in Imax, which was quite the experience. A number of scenes were Imaxified, including just about all of the city establishing shots. Whoa, was that cool. The theatre has been sold out of the Imax DK shows by 3:00 or so every day. I love that this movie is getting that kind of traction.
It was a good theatre audience, too. No one with their bright LED phone displays Twittering away (no slight to the Twitter, which I do, but there’s a time and a place), very quiet and just a nice filmgoing bunch. And they clapped during the pencil and truck scenes, as well as at the end. That was just cool.
Oddly, after we left the theatre and were walking back to our car, we passed Tiny Lister, who played the convict in the movie. He was also the President in The Fifth Element. That was a little jarring, but cool nonetheless.
That’s been the big stuff so far. The Drink and Draw is tonight, and I’ll be seeing some friends and colleauges in the next couple of days. And then, back home. I love coming to visit, and I like the opportunities it opens, but I think I’m just about ready to be home, too.
SDCC 2008: Day the Last
The con’s over for another year. I’m writing this as Bob Ingersoll drives us up to LA for a week of meetings and friends and the inevitable trip to Amoeba Records.
The show went well today. Lots of cool things happened, and as usual, I can only tell you about some of them. A couple of comics guys, including comics legends Marv Wolfman and Dan Mishkin came by the booth. It’s just kind of nice to have the people I grew up reading now know me by name, and read my books.
I also got to meet Felicia Day from the oh-so-great “Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.” Felicia plays Penny, and I met her on the Twitter. I gave her some of my funnybooks since she was in a superhero comedy, and I write one myself. Have I mentioned Love and Capes to you? Lord knows, I mentioned it to everyone else who walked by my booth.
Anyway, she is delightful and sweet and everything you’d hope she’d be.
I sold more than a few things. Sunday was my best day, but not by much. There’s only a seventy dollar difference between my high and my low, not counting Preview Night. I felt like I sold more on Sunday, but apparently not by too much. Friday was my best day for sketching, but I sold a big chunk of Powerful Women sketchbooks every day.
I didn’t really buy anything at the show. I looked at the Boba Fett USB drives, but for what they were charging for an 8gB drive, it’d better come with the source files for the Star Wars trilogy pre-loaded. It didn’t, so I passed. I tried to get Kyle Baker’s new drawing book, but that sold out. (Way to go, Kyle!) And that was about it.
Boothmates Bill Williams from Lone Star Press and Paul from Toon Tumblers both seemed to do well themselves. Always good to see that.
So now we’re heading up to LA, where I have one for-sure meeting and one probable meeting. I’ll also be seeing some friends that I don’t see very often. Friends are the best part, of course, but a little extra work can’t hurt either, can it?
SDCC 2008: Days Two and Three
Here we go, a moment of quiet contemplation.
I think the Con is getting so big that those random
I didn't post anything before, so here's a mix of what happened Friday and Saturday.
Generally, sales have been good. It's been an odd mix, as one day I'll do a lot of commissions and do a few book sales, the next day I'll sell a ton of books and only do a couple of drawings. It's okay, as I dig the variety. It's just weird how the con breaks. In fact, I've mostly given up on trying to figure it out.
I even made the joke that now I let the con come to me. I just sit behind my booth and let it swirl around me. Honestly, I meant it in jest, but oddly, Dean Haglund came up to my table to say "hi" and introduce me to his lovely girlfriend. Then, another lady came up, and Dean said, "Thom, this is my friend Gigi Edgely."
That's just cool. I loved Chyanna on Farscape.
I got to have dinner with my friends John Gallagher (Buzzboy), Chris Bailey (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kim Possible) and his friend, Matt Haley and Sandi (oh, I've mentioned them before) and Ray, who does a book called Liberty Mustard. I've been staring at him from across my booth for the whole show, and we've unfortunately barely had a chance to speak. I'll try to fix that tomorrow.
I've met up with Amy Wolfram, Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie, Dan Panosian and others. I'm sure I've missed some people. When I get back up to LA and have some time to clear my head, I'll mention more of them. I'm going to see quite a few of them there.
Saturday, I tried to walk the floor. Crazy, crazy busy. It seems like more
I'm going to try to get my Dad to build one of those Batman wirepoons. Maybe then I can get from point A to point B easier. Heck, I should have one of those anyway just on general principal.
Remember I told you that I had to have a talk with someone? Well, I haven't been able to make that happen, but I've managed to shift the location to LA when I'm up there. It's sad that it's getting easier to meet people after the show than at it.
Heck, I even wound up having gelato with Marv Wolfman and his wife, Craig Miller and his wife, and John Hudgens, where we spoke of many things including Star Trek, Monster Movies, and Indiana Jones.
I have a feeling that I'm rambling, so I'm going to punch out now. Enjoy the photos from the show, and hopefully I'll have some great stories from tomorrow.
SDCC 2008: Day One
No pictures today, I'm afraid. I took some, but it's late as I sit here and type this, and really I only took one of the booth that showed more product, so nothing you need to see.
I've mentioned before that the more entrenched I get in the industry, the less I can say. Well, today's very indicative of that. I have to go talk to someone about something tomorrow, and that's all I can say. But it's cool beyond all recognition of coolness should something break. If you've got time to pray to the God of your choice on my behalf, please do so.
The show started slow today. Some of that was due to a huge accident on The Five (as the Cali Kids call the freeway route 5) that blocked off the commuter traffic from LA for the better part of five hours. I can only assume that's why Hollywood didn't beat a path to my door today. But, by the end of the day, things were going pretty swimmingly. Both booth mates, Paul of Toon Tumblers and Bill of Lone Star Press had some assorted coolness happen. Let's hope good things for us all!
Then I went to the IDW party. A nice party, with great food and an open bar (which I dig muchly). A little thick with people, but that's never a bad sign, especially for a company you're doing business with. And then I went to the Boom Studios party and had an equally good time.
Comic companies who employ you/you want to employ you are like kids. They both have to be your favorites.
I ran into all sorts of Con Friends and made some new ones, too. It was a hard, long day, with much walking and then more walking, but it was verra productive. Bring on tomorrow!